Fifteen Years
by Jewel17.rae
Summary: It’s been 15 years since Nick and Judy became partners on the ZPD, and they have climbed the ranks. Throughout this time, they have been in love with each other. But they’re hesiatant to confess for fear of losing the good friendship they have built. What will it take for them to own up? Will they do it before it’s too late?
1. Chapter 1

Sup, people! Jewel here!

So, this is my first multi-chapter fic ever.. This is the first chapter of a story of a yet undetermined length… I hope that you enjoy this story, and leave a review, because guess who needs to improve? Me! Alright, enough of my rambling. Without further adieu, I present Fifteen Years!

Chief Nicholas Wilde of the ZPD's first precinct was unceremoniously awakened by the unwelcome blaring of his cheap alarm clock. The fox, who was barely conscious, groped blindly around for the source of the infernal racket. When his paw made contact with the clock after about a minute, he slammed the stupid thing and finally silenced it. Without a second, sluggish, sleepy thought, the fox fell back asleep. Ten minutes later, he was again awakened, this time by his co-chief Judy Hopps' text notification. _SHOOT!_ His emerald eyes snapped open, then closed again due to the blinding light pouring in through the window. He rubbed his sleep-blurred eyes, yawned, and attempted to climb out of bed with dignity. This did not happen. The fox's legs were so tangled up in his blanket that he managed only to fall very ungracefully out of his sheets with a thud.

"I hate Mondays…" the fox growled into his floor.

With what little of his dignity that remained, the fox managed to disentangle himself from his bedding and stagger clumsily toward the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth, bumping his elbow against the door frame on the way in. About twenty minutes later, the fox reemerged, looking less like he had fallen out of bed and more like the co-chief of Zootopia's finest. He strode across the room, still somewhat discombobulated, and donned his uniform and aviator sunglasses all while stumbling over his own paws and tail. Finally, after a good five minutes of struggling with his slacks, the fox went into his kitchen, and grabbed his coffee off of the coffee machine. Nick had a coffee machine that made his coffee for him every morning at a certain time, and that thing was his best friend after Judy and Finnick. He took a sip of the refreshing brew and instantly perked up. He gave a sigh of appreciation for the caffeine filled miracle. Then he glanced over at his phone and did a spit take. He was running late. It would _not_ do for the co-chief to be late. Plus, Judy would kill him, and it was never pretty when that bunny got mad.

The one and only time he had ever been late, Judy had coerced him into a sparring match. A few kicks to his jaw, collar bone, and ribs later, he had collapsed in pain. He shuddered at the memory, sprinted out the door and a few streets down to the precinct. Even though he lived close to his place of work, he still barely made it in time. He stopped running once he hit the door of the station, straightened his tie and wind-blown fur, and strolled casually in.

"You're cutting it close, Slick." Chief Judy Hopps said

She stood by Benjamin Clawhauser's desk, and had apparently been chatting with the gossipy cheetah a moment ago

"Carrots, you should know by now that I live dangerously."

"Oh, I should, should I?"

"Yes. Yes, you should."

Judy just rolled her big violet eyes and shook her head. _What a stupid fox._

"Well, my dear fellow chief," she said, " I believe that it is time for bullpen."

Even after Chief Bogo had retired, the morning meetings were still known affectionately as bullpen, and it would stay that way for many years to come.

"Lead on, fluffbutt." Nick replied in a sarcastic, Nick-esque tone

Judy glared, but walked down the hall toward the noise of officers arm wrestling and yelling. Nick followed. Yep, it was just another day of working at the ZPD. It was hard. Sometimes sad. But Nick loved it. After fifteen years of working here, Nick felt that he had righted the wrongs had made in his younger days. And he got to work with...well saying she was his best friend didn't quite cut it. He loved Judy. And more than as a friend. And that was okay. Nick had long ago accepted that he was probably never going to get to be with her. He didn't like it, but that was how life rolled. He of all mammals knew that you didn't always like the cards you were dealt in life. So Nick Wilde considered himself a very content fox.

You may notice that this chapter is a bit different than the original first chapter was. That is because I lost the document to the original one, and it had some issues I wanted to fix. So I just rewrote it, and this we've got. I'll take the old chapter down as soon as I put this up, and then I'll try to start on a second chapter. Thank you all so much for you patience with me. I, unfortunately, am busy person, so we'll see when the next one goes up. For now, enjoy the revamped first chapter!

Ciao!

Jewel.


	2. Chapter 2

Guess who's back with the second chapter the same day as the new first one? It's me! Because it's summer, and summer means no school, which means I actually have a bit of extra time on my hands. It's a miracle, I know! Anyway, I need to stop talking, and give you the long-awaited chapter two of this story. So without further adieu….

Bullpen was, as always, a chaotic mess of noise and fur. Judy loved it, even if it did hurt her ears most of the time. She looked back as her partner in crime… or rather, her partner in justice strolled in. She smiled to herself. She had known when Chief Bogo retired that either she or Nick would become Chief. They both had a lot of experience and they were both stellar at their jobs. But it had been bittersweet, though, that after all this time, she and Nick wouldn't be working together anymore. The day that the Mayor bestowed the new position upon the deserving officer, though, he did something had heard from now white-haired chief of police (and had seen for himself, if he was honest) that Judy and Nick were too good of a team to split up. So he had given them both the position. The first thing she had done when they were in private (she needed to keep up that tough exterior in front of her officers, after all) was hug Nick.

"I can't believe it!" she had practically shouted, totally ecstatic.

Nick had a rare, genuine, grin on his face

"Pretty awesome, isn't it?" he said casually, excited in his own way.

"I'm just so glad that we didn't get split up!"She exclaimed

Nick had looked at her, his grin still there, but his eyes had an odd, intense, expression in them that she'd only seen a couple of times before. She'd never been able to place it.

"Me too, Carrots, me too."

"QUIET!" Judy snapped out of her reverie, her ears back in a wince.

"Next time, warn me before you start bellowing!" she grumbled out of the corner of her mouth so that only Nick could hear.

"Sorry…" Nick muttered back, his ears twitching back minisculely. Then he continued in a quieter version of his frequently used drill sergeant voice.

"Alright everyone. We have some new recruits with us this morning, and unlike Chief Bogo, Hopps and I actually do care. Welcome to the crew, you guys."

An otter, an arctic fox, a jackrabbit and a bat nodded briskly back. Judy let a smile show through. Then she and Nick began rattling off assignments, alternating back and forth.

"Assignments. Wolford, Grizzoli, Trunkaby. Rainforest S.W.A.T."

"Howlerson, Mousey, Hornston. Undercover."

"Woolmer, Antlerson, Coon. We have a speed racer in Savanna. Take care of it."

"Otterley, Batter. We've got a kid missing. Figure out where on Earth she is."

"White, Skipperton, Investigate this theft"

"Dismissed, " the fox and the rabbit said in perfect unison.

The officers walked out the door in a gaggle of noise.

"Alright. Now paperwork for us," said Judy.

" Yippee…" grumbed Nick. He hated paperwork. But it was a big part of his job, unfortunately.

"Oh suck it up!" Judy said. "At least we don't have to do parking duty anymore!" That was certainly a relief, to Judy at least.

"Where one evil falls, another takes its place!" Nick tossed over his shoulder as he walked toward his and Judy's offices. Judy jogged toward him, hurrying to keep up with the taller fox's longer strides.

" Oh c'mon. It isn't that bad!"

" I never thought I'd see the day that Judy Hopps wasn't longing to be out catching criminals in the field, yet here we are."

"I do miss the field, but it has its dangers. What if one of us got hurt? Or died? That could happen."

"You sound more and more like your parents everyday, fluff!" Nick said, in sing-songy tone.

"Oh shut up…" she grumbled back

"You know I'm right," he said.

" Clawhauser has a new pool going."

"Are you seriously trying to change the subject?"

"Am I trying to tell you about Clawhauser's latest attempt to get us together? Yes. Yes I am."

It was at this moment that Nick thanked every deity he could think of for his red fur, because, made by the devil or not, it hid any blushing remarkably well.

"Again?" he said, managing to keep his voice from cracking.

"Yep. Most of the officers have their bets in already."

"How do you even figure this stuff out?" Nick muttered in amazement.

"Were we not the ones who solved the Missing Mammals case?"

"Fair point," He agreed.

Judy felt herself redden under her grey fur and surreptitiously looked down. It would not do to have Nick know that she got embarrassed about this. Because then he might guess that she had feelings for him. He hadn't been one of the greatest detectives to walk through the doors of Precinct One for nothing. Then she would be risking over fifteen years of friendship for some dumb bunny emotions. No. It wasn't worth it. Nick would eventually find some vixen, and settle down. And she could live with that. At least, she hoped that she could. Boy, did she hope she could.

"Uh.. Carrots?"

Judy shook her head "Sorry… I-I spaced out for a second. What?"

Nick raised an eyebrow and looked her in the eyes.

."Seriously!"

"Whatever you say, fluff," Nick said, suspicious.

"What were you saying?"

"I- never mind…"

Now it was Judy's turn to be suspicious. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Nick's face reddened again. He had asked her if she wanted to go get dinner after work without even thinking about it. Not that they didn't get dinner or go to each other's apartments after work. What he had in mind was more of a date. Now that he thought about it, he was glad that she hadn't heard him. "Shall we...?" He gestured toward their office door. Judy, realizing that they'd been standing outside of their door for awhile now, and that officers were smirking up at them already, yelled "GET TO WORK!", and stalked into her office, Nick following in an embarrassed daze behind her. Yet another day in the lovesick lives of Chiefs Hopps and Wilde had commenced. _It's gonna be another long one…_ Judy thought to herself.

And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review and have a good day!

Ciao,

Jewel.


End file.
